A utility deploys remote-access VPN for field technicians using the FortiClient application, giving them a full virtual network adapter that lets applications behave as if the laptop is physically on the utility's internal network. Which SSL VPN access mode is being used?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
A virtual adapter that makes the whole laptop look like it's sitting on the internal network — not just one browser tab — is the signature of SSL VPN tunnel mode. Web mode never touches the OS network stack; it only proxies specific web apps through a portal page.
Full Explanation
SSL VPN tunnel mode is defined by exactly this behavior: the FortiClient (or another compatible client) installs a virtual network adapter on the endpoint, and once connected, the operating system routes traffic for the tunnel's included networks through that adapter, making applications behave as though the laptop is physically attached to the internal network rather than only giving access through a browser. Web mode, in contrast, does not touch the operating system's network stack or create a virtual adapter at all — it presents a browser-based portal that proxies access to specific published web applications, so describing it as assigning a virtual adapter to browser tabs misrepresents how it actually works. Dead peer detection is not an access mode at all; it is a keepalive and failure-detection mechanism used to determine whether an IPsec peer is still reachable, unrelated to whether a client is using tunnel or web-based SSL VPN access. Policy-based IPsec is a configuration style for how a phase 1/phase 2 pair is bound to a firewall policy rather than a virtual tunnel interface; it is a site-to-site and dialup IPsec concept and is unrelated to SSL VPN client access modes, so calling it exclusive to FortiGate-to-FortiGate tunnels while implying it's the alternative to tunnel mode here conflates two separate VPN technologies. To confirm tunnel mode is in use, check the client's operating system for a new virtual network adapter after connecting, and review the SSL VPN portal configuration on the FortiGate for the tunnel-mode setting enabled under the relevant portal.